SEBI Chief urges companies for better corporate governance, ease of doing business

Addressing an event organised by the industry body on Thursday, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), SEBI Chief said, "As a regulator, SEBI has laid down a comprehensive governance framework on corporate governance. We have taken comprehensive measures to protect the interests of investors and, at the same time, facilitate ease of doing business. But to achieve the objectives, we need to have a collaborative ecosystem."

The remark by the SEBI Chief comes in the backdrop of the recent notice sent by the market regulator to Gensol Engineering Ltd, which was found to be involved in the potential misuse of the raised funds.

Highlighting the steps taken by the market regulator, the SEBI Chief said that it has been actively working to protect the interests of investors by enhancing the standards of corporate governance in the country.

Pandey said, "In today's world, good governance is no longer a best practice; it is a necessity. It is a bridge between the performance and trust."

SEBI has laid down comprehensive measures to protect the interests of the investors. These measures mandate companies to update activities to keep the investors informed.

He stated that today over 13 crore investors are investing across 5400+ listed companies as compared to 4.9 crores five years ago. Similarly, the number of mutual fund investors has now grown to 5.4 crore from 2.2 crore at the end of FY 2020, said Pandey.

"Increasing penetrations of our markets rights in retail shareholdings, including to mutual funds company with an increase in the size of the listed universe, sets the stage for greater significance of corporate governance," SEBI Chief Pandey said.

Further, Pandey noted that there is a need to have a balance between regulation and ease of doing business, as overregulation can stifle growth and innovation.

The SEBI chief also noted that too little regulation can lead to a decline in trust of stakeholders and adversely impact growth, adding that "there is a need for the optimum regulation."

"Regulation needs to be rationalised by removing what is no longer relevant and reducing overlaps," he said.

Pandey suggested the stakeholders pay greater attention to self-regulation, adding that "we need to move from the thinking of minimum compliance to maximum governance.

"Boards must rise above routines and ask difficult questions and auditors and independent directors must act as gatekeepers of entities," he said.